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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




THE STAR IN THE EAST. 



BY 



THOMAS KIBBLE HERVEY. 



NEW-YORK: 

GEO. R. LOCKWOOD & SON, 

812 BROADWAY. 

1887. 








TR ^-^ 96. 



Copyright, 1887, 
By Geo. R. Lockwood & Son. 





The burning East bath caught a sign, 

Upon tJje brow of nigJjt, 
And starts tJje sage to see it shine 

Oer all the morning s light; — 
A stranger with bis step of fire, 

Upon the starry way, 
And wings that tarnish not, nor tire, 

Amid the bla{e of day, 
But keeping still his flashing eye 
Unshut, amid the sun-bright sky ! 



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He is not of the stars who sang* 

At that primeval birth, 
When all their lyres with music rang 

To hail the young bright earth; 
When swelled the world's high anthem out, 

And pealed the Spheres abroad. 
And one wide pcean met the sloout, 

From all the ''sons of God' ^ I — 
He fought not with the starry train \ 
That fought on Kishons ancient plain! 

* " IVhen the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God 

shoiitedforjoyy — Job, xviii. 7. 
t" The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.^'' — 

Judges, v. 20. 



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Whence comes that glorious messenger? 

Why came he not before? 
Chaldea hath no form so fair, 

In all her planet-lore ; 
The Gheber linoweth not that star, 

Amid his creed of fire; 
Nor Imth its beauty Ijailed, from far, 

The mariner of Tyre, 
Wljen midnigljt, with Jjer Spirit-train, 
Loolied o'er the Idumean main! 



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It prophesieth in the skies ; — 

O where hath it been hid. 
For ages, mid the myriad eyes 

That watch tlje pyramid? 
The Persian, with Ins starry wit, 

He cannot Speak its name ; 
And who shall read the story writ 

Upon its brow of flame ? 
It bath no page in Grecian art. 
Nor sign on Zoroaster s chart. 










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// Spreadetb forth its glittering wing, 

And beckonetb to the West, 
And circleth, like a living thing, 

In ioaste — that may not rest: — 
The sage hath watched its course afar. 

And pondered it apart, 
Till, to ! the story of that star 

Beams in upon Ins heart, — 
And brightly rises on Ins soul 
The legend of its burning scroll! 










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'T is be — 'tis he — the light ofwljom 

TJjose ancient propJjets told, 
TJoe star that sloouldfrom Jacob come ^ 

To shine on Judaifsfold! 
Tioe East simll offer odors sweet, 

To meet its rising smiles, 
And liings bring presents to His feet, 

From Tarslnsh and tJje isles, — t 
And Sheba, from tioe desert far. 
Be summoned by that herald star. 

* " There shall come a Star out of Jacob. ''"' — Num. xxiv. 1 7. 
t" The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents ; 
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.'" — 

Psalms, Ixxii. 10. 



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The angel, with bis sword of flame, 

Who watched on Edens towers, 
When Adam in his hour of shame 

Went weeping from its bowers, — 
Perchance to that same shining power 

The gentler task is given 
To point, in this redeeming hour. 

The patljway bacJi to Jjeaven, 
And Jieep the new and better road 
That opens to the Tree of God. 



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Along the wild, like ships at sea, 

The pilgrim-camel rides, 
And tbroiigb the heavens silently 

That glorious banner glides: 
The desert-fiend, in breatljless baste. 

Stalks faint and far away. 
And like a garden blooms the waste. 

Beneath the holy ray, — 
Where they who weary not nor rest 
Are traveling, star-lead, to the West. 













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M^hen Jiidab heard the voice of God 

On Egypfs hostile plain, 
And sJjooli again loer hair abroad 

And flung away her oljain, 
Sloe followed, in the desert way, 

Alternate gloom and light, 
And tlmt was still a shade by day, 

Which glowed afire by night; 
And morning saw the Godhead shroud 
Behind the Pillar oftloe Cloud, 




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But onward, onward gliding, still, 

Afar and yet afar. 
By day and night, der plain and hill. 

Looks out yon golden star! 
O, never herald's presence yet, 

With such a glory shone; 
And sure, such guide must bring the feet 

Unto a gorgeous throne; 
And wljo shall meet His awful eye 
IV hose burning couriers walk the sky? 



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Yon herald baltetb suddenly! 

And with their fragrant freight, 
The stately camels stoop tlje knee 

Before — a stable-gate! — 
O, He whose name was first on high, 

Is lowliest in His birth; 
And He, whose star is in the sliy. 

Hath but a crib on earth; — 
And t/jey, tlje wise, Ijave trod tlje wild, 
To bow before — a little c/nld! 





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So, — guided by that eastern ray, 

The lowly and the poor 
May gather precious truths, to-day, 

Beside tJjat stable-door: — 
That not unto the highest, toere 

The highest place is given; 
And they who serve below, may wear 

The starry crown in heaven; — 
And shining things still keep the road 
That leads the Christian to his God! 







LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 



014 457 359 9 ^ 





